2 SUNY Oneonta Alumni
To Speak At Graduations
Experts In Climate Change, Refugees;
Also, 8 Professors, 4 Students Honored
ONEONTA – In a new approach this year, two alumni, one an advocate for refugees, the other, a climate-change researcher, will be SUNY Oneonta’s commencement speakers at three ceremonies Saturday, May 11, in the Dewar Arena.
• Crystal L. Williams, ’77, is a lawyer focused on helping refugees and asylum seekers, litigating employment-based immigration law cases, and helping to shape federal immigration policy. She is CEO and executive director of the
American Immigration Lawyers Association. Her achievements include helping advance the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or DACA) initiative, co-authoring a treatise on immigration law and starting a new pro bono program.
• James C. Zachos, ’81, is a paleoclimatologist and professor of geology, researching to reconstruct Earth’s climate history. He has been widely published, and speaks at conferences around the world. In 2017, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
Zachos will speak at the 9 a.m. ceremony for the School of Sciences; Williams, at the 1 p.m. for the School of Liberal Arts, and 4:30 p.m. for the School of Education, Human Ecology and Sports Studies.
Eight SUNY Chancellor’s Award winners for the 2018-2019 academic year:
• Lesley Bidwell, director of IT Networking and Telecommunications, for Excellence in Professional Service;
• Keith Byam, maintenance assistant/locksmith, hfor Excellence in Classified Service;
• Robert Compton, professor of Africana and Latino Studies (ALS) and political science and chair of the ALS Department,
for Excellence in Faculty Service;
• Amie Doughty, professor and chair of the English Department, for Excellence in
Teaching;
• Michelle Hendley, librarian, for Excellence in Librarianship;
• Gina Keel, associate professor of political science,for Excellence in Teaching;
• Izabella Lokshina, chair of the Management, Marketing and Information Systems Department, for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities
• Florian Reyda, professor of biology, for Excellence in Teaching.
Four students will be recognized as SUNY Chancellor’s Award winners for Student Excellence for the 2018-2019 academic year:
• James Bethel, a communication major from Saugerties;
• Madeline Frank, a biology major from Syracuse;
• Rosario Rodriguez, a mass communications major from Greenport; and
• Karly Schuhart, a child and family studies major from Penfield.